Jun. 21, 2013

Maura Corrigan

In her June 14 commentary in the Detroit Free Press, state Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit states that at the Michigan Department of Human Services, “decisions affecting our vulnerable families are recklessly putting families at greater risk.”

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In the 30 months since Gov. Rick Snyder asked me to come on board at DHS, we’ve made amazing progress. Major reforms have been implemented that positively impact both the assistance and child welfare sides of our department. Those reforms have been put into place to better assist our clients who are truly in need. Those reforms provide for accountability to the taxpayers of Michigan.

The recent lawsuit (initiated by an outside group) over cash assistance lifetime limits eventually saw the state and DHS prevail in court. Department policy on time limits was also codified into law by the Legislature and the governor. Rather than costing the state tens of millions — as was alleged — the actual legal costs in the case stand at about $763,000. The tens of millions Tlaib says the lawsuit cost the state represents benefits that the state would have paid out anyway if the new limit hadn’t been implemented. Ultimately, the department’s policy change on lifetime benefits saves our state an estimated $30 million annually.

While the number of clients on cash assistance has fallen, partially because of time limits, the rate of clients who comply with federal work requirements is now at an all-time high. When this administration took office, the work participation rate for Michigan cash welfare clients stood at 22%. Now, we have topped the 50% mark, and aim to go even higher. That avoids the possibility of federal sanctions.

It’s true that as the economy has improved statewide, we’ve seen a corresponding drop in our overall caseloads. We’ve also seen a $930-million gross drop in our overall budget between our 2011 and 2014 budgets. Still, DHS leadership and front-line staff have worked diligently to ensure critical services remain in place, helping millions of clients every day.

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We’ve also made important strides within the legal agreement under which the federal government has oversight of our state’s child welfare system. That has led to:

■ Extending foster care on a voluntary basis to age 21.

■ Post-secondary education support for foster youth.

■ Statewide centralized intake for reporting child abuse and neglect.

■ Ensuring health care for older youth exiting state custody.

■ Licensing thousands more relative and non-relative foster homes.

■ Hiring more than 1,000 new child welfare case workers.

While those are just a sample, the presiding judge in the case recently noted that, “It's remarkable how much progress has been made since this (agreement) went into effect in 2011."

We agree. We also know that a great deal of work remains to be done.

Some mistakes have been made over the course of the past 30 months. Those happen within any serious attempt at broad reform. We have admitted as much, apologized on the record for them and any communication breakdowns that may have led to misunderstandings.

But none of those mistakes alters the basic fact that DHS is heading in the right direction. It’s happening thanks to a tremendous amount of work being done inside and outside the department.

We will continue to work closely with the Legislature. We will continue to work closely with our private partners. We will continue to work closely with stakeholders. Above all, we will serve our clients while we uphold and champion the governor’s vision for human services in the reinvention of Michigan.